Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: goodbye

  • Ailleurs

    Ailleurs

    Every Goodbye introduces the beautiful music of harpist and composer Mylle Fournier in her first solo album Ailleurs, a delicate and reflective studio improv, reflecting back on life and the many goodbyes said as the time and years move along, leaving behind a gentle imprint, always to be remembered.

    Falling in love with the harp at junior school it was many years later before Mylle Fournier was able to learn to play this ancient instrument. After formal study she went on to study further under the tutelage of renowned Montreal artist, Suzanne Berthiaume. A love of rock music filled the gap as Fournier learned to play guitar and electric bass, performing in a number of local bands.

    Each of the pieces on this album have been composed from moments in time, moments that have created the fabric of Fournier’s’ life journey, now being woven into an almost continuous piece of music.

    The many influences of her life are apparent in her five compositions, which contain a little of everything, from classical construction with a dash of panache, as in the introduction to the final track Tell It To The Wind, a sentiment each and every one can say they have done over their life time and a piece inspired by the stunning beauty of the West Coast of British Columbia.

    But prior to this song is the more formal, classically constructed An Ocean, A Decade which has an almost Mediterranean influence to the piece tucked away in the lovely composition.

    Prynhawn, Nos, Bore is a cheerful, joyful piece that bounces along, light, energetic and happy; cheerfully spreading a touch of contentment with the many layers of sound as it trips daintily along.

    Delightful and with a slightly different emphasis is Penta, a robust and yet delicate piece, perhaps constructed in tribute to the resilience of the human spirit to be able accept and begin again in a new place; a place with fresh new challenges, with the still raw emotions of leaving loved ones and places behind.

    Ailleurs, although not overly long, the 28 minutes of the album are perfect for those times when life needs to be overlayed with a delicate and gentle touch, a simple moment to return to Mindfulness and refreshed, move onward.

     

  • I’ve Come To Say Goodbye

    I’ve Come To Say Goodbye

    In The Chaos Of India An Unlikely Friendship Is Born

    Barbara Carmichael, is an author, an artist and a woman of great resourcefulness and understanding. She has created this narrative around her fifteen trips to India, and her recount of the people, sights, sounds and smells is honestly shared. The stories are carefully told, factually and faithfully reported. Over the years she developed a relationship with an Indian family that became very close, so much so that she was considered one of them.

    Barbara’s first trip to India was in 2006. She went with a friend who was a buyer for a shop. The women met Tarun, a spice merchant who also sold silver bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Barbie instantly developed a friendship that was to last from 2006 to 2014, when he suddenly passed away. Each time she visited Udaipur, she would meet with Tarun and his family. His elderly mother could not speak English, but was warm and welcoming, and Manisha, his wife, also accepted the “sister” her husband had met. Rudrakshi was the only daughter and was much loved by her family.

    Each time Barbara, the Australian artist, visited India she took photos, and wrote copious notes in her journals. Sometimes she was invited over, once for a wedding, and other times just to see different parts of the districts that she loved. She once had a meal with a Maharaja, as well as taking part in many festivals and sight seeing tours. Her experiences are factually told. She doesn’t avoid the dust, the heat, Delhi Belly, or the poorer accommodation that she experienced.

    The descriptive writing is very evocative. A fort visited was once lived in by a king; she relates as, “We saw his bedroom, the bedroom of his legal wife, the bedrooms of his illegal wives, and the bedroom of his mistresses. The light played rainbow patterns on the marble floor of the dancing room, where a troupe of dancing girls entertained him.”

    During her visits she sees many icons, and evokes a sense of peace at the end of the day, by sitting on the rooftop drinking Holy Water (Gin) watching the colour fade from the day, and the enormous moon begin to rise.

    The sadness and loss that the author feels when her friend Tarun dies, has been the catalyst to tell this story, a story which is poignantly beautiful. The sense of the sun never leaving you is ever present as the pages are tipped with gold paint.

     For anyone who has been to India, or would like to visit, this is a practical guide to the customs and issues of the country.